Chapter 2: Chapter 2 — The Forbidden Cipher

By dawn, the autumn had disappeared.
Elian stood at the academy's highest window, staring across Aurelith.
The city had been transformed overnight.
Roofs glittered beneath a thin blanket of snow. Fountains had frozen solid. The golden leaves that had covered the streets only hours ago were buried beneath white silence.
But it was not the snow that frightened him.
It was the direction from which it came.
North.
Master Arven entered the tower chamber carrying a bundle of ancient books.
“Close the shutters.”
Elian obeyed.
The old wizard placed the books upon a stone table.
One was bound in black leather.
Another had chains wrapped around it.
The third was nothing more than a collection of loose parchment sealed with red wax.
Elian stared at them.
“What are those?”
“Things I hoped I would never have to show you.”
Arven broke the seal on the parchment.
A map appeared.
Eldoria was drawn across its surface, but the northern mountains were completely different from the maps Elian had studied.
There were enormous circles beneath the mountains.
Seven of them.
At the center stood the Glacial Spire.
“What are the circles?” Elian asked.
“Seven ancient rune chambers.”
Arven pointed toward the Spire.
“And beneath this one sleeps an archmage.”
Elian looked up.
“An archmage?”
“His name was Vaelthar.”
The name seemed to make the candles flicker.
“Vaelthar was one of the greatest mages who ever lived,” Arven continued. “He could command storms, bend rivers, and freeze entire armies. But his greatest discovery was something called the Frost Rune.”
Elian remembered the symbol from his dream.
“What does it do?”
Arven's expression hardened.
“That depends on who controls it.”
He opened the chained book.
The pages were filled with strange symbols.
Elian leaned closer.
At first they appeared meaningless.
Then something happened.
The symbols moved.
Lines rearranged themselves across the page.
A pattern emerged.
Elian's eyes widened.
“I can read it.”
Arven froze.
“What did you say?”
“I can read it.”
He pointed to the page.
“It's not a language. It's a sequence.”
Arven slowly sat down.
“What sequence?”
“Four symbols repeat every seventh line. But the order changes according to the moon phases.”
The old wizard stared at him.
Elian continued.
“The symbols aren't words. They're instructions.”
His finger traced the parchment.
“Cold. Memory. Blood. Silence.”
The room suddenly became colder.
A crack appeared in the window.
Arven slammed the book shut.
“You must never read that cipher aloud.”
“Why?”
“Because the Frost Cipher listens.”
Elian stepped back.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Arven's voice became quiet.
“That is precisely what makes it dangerous.”
A deep sound echoed from beneath the academy.
BOOM.
The floor shook.
Books fell from the shelves.
Elian grabbed the table.
“What was that?”
Arven rushed to the window.
Far beyond the city walls, a white line was spreading across the countryside.
It moved like a river.
But it wasn't water.
It was frost.
“It's advancing,” Arven whispered.
“How fast?”
“Too fast.”
He turned toward Elian.
“The southern kingdoms have perhaps twelve days.”
“Twelve days until what?”
“Until the Frost reaches Aurelith.”
Elian's stomach tightened.
“And what happens then?”
Arven looked toward the chained book.
“The winter doesn't stop at the city.”
He swallowed.
“It will continue until every living thing in Eldoria is frozen.”
Silence filled the chamber.
Elian stared at the book.
“Then we need to stop it.”
Arven shook his head.
“Not we.”
He placed a small silver pendant into Elian's hand.
“You.”
Elian looked at him in disbelief.
“Why me?”
“I don't know.”
Arven's eyes moved toward the symbol carved into the pendant.
“But the ancient wards recognized you.”
Before Elian could respond, the academy bells began ringing.
Not thirteen times.
Not even twelve.
They rang continuously.
A student burst through the chamber doors.
“Master Arven!”
“What happened?”
“The northern gate!”
The boy was trembling.
“There is something outside.”
Arven grabbed his staff.
“What?”
The student looked toward Elian.
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
“She says she has come from the Glacial Spire.”
Arven's face changed.
“Take me to her.”
They hurried through the corridors.
At the academy gate stood a figure wrapped in a cloak of white fur.
Snow swirled around her, though there was no wind.
Her face was hidden beneath a silver mask.
As Arven approached, she slowly lifted one hand.
A symbol appeared in the air.
The same symbol Elian had seen on the frost.
The woman spoke.
“Vaelthar has awakened.”
Arven tightened his grip on his staff.
“Who are you?”
The masked woman turned toward Elian.
Her voice softened.
“I am the last keeper of the Frost Cipher.”
She pointed at him.
“And he is the one who must finish it.”
Elian felt the pendant in his hand grow warm.
The woman continued.
“But there is something you have not told him, Arven.”
The old wizard said nothing.
“What?” Elian asked.
The masked woman removed her silver mask.
Her eyes were completely white.
“Your apprentice isn't the one who awakened the Frost Rune.”
She smiled sadly.
“He is the reason it awakened.”

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